New Orleans, LA (October 24)

After a leisurely start, we took a trolley and then a bus to Canal Street. (We had to transfer from the trolley to the bus due to rail work not associated with the Hard Rock Hotel collapse.)

Getting off the bus, we could see the building. The previous weekend there had been a controlled demolition of two cranes that hung precariously on the top of the building. The site remained too unstable to recover the body of two workers killed in the collapse.

The building was still considered a danger zone and, due to its size, so was a two-block radius around it.  There was a police cordon with fire equipment on scene. All the businesses inside the cordon were closed and will remain so until the building comes down.  

The business owners will be suing the hotel owners.  The city will be suing the owners.  The owners will be suing the architects. The architects will be suing the general contractor.  The general contractor will be suing subcontractors. There are permutations and combinations of those plaintiffs and defendants as well as other parties.  Basically everyone will be suing everyone for years to come.  (FEB 03 update: The building will probably come down with a controlled implosion sometime in March, 2020.]

We wandered through the French Quarter to the Mississippi River waterfront, then along it to Cafe du Monde for beignets and a hot latte. Some say that it is not the best beignet in the city, but it was pretty darn good.

We rendezvoused with our friends Bruce and Nancy in Jackson Park. They had just come from Antoine's (which claims to be the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the country since Delmonico's closed) They reported that the food was great and service impeccable. It is about two blocks from Tableau - the restaurant we ate at last night.

Yesterday they had gone on a food and drink tour of the French Quarter that included a stop at Tableau. They said the tour was fun, but a bit fast-paced.

Circumventing the street performers and their audience in front of St. Louis Cathedral, we went inside.

The flags in the cathedral represented the governments that ruled the diocese during the history of the church. The number of flags reflected the colorful history of the city.

Mule's name was Leblanc

We walked to Decatur where, after buying some Cafe du Monde souvenirs, we took a carriage ride. Our driver Scott was a character; a transplant who only moved to NOLA after Hurricane Sandy destroyed his tattoo business somewhere on the Jersey shore.

We learned about the Pontalba Buildings that line opposing sides of Jackson Park and about Miceala Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba who was quite an interesting woman. 

Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop - oldest bar in the French Quarter

As we moved through the French Quarter, Scott continued to regale us with facts. He explained the difference between a balcony and a gallery, the latter far more common here. Romeo spikes had more than a decorative purpose on the top of a fence; they discouraged a boyfriend from climbing over them to visit the owner's daughter.

Halloween is only a week away

It was a thoroughly enjoyable, albeit totally touristy experience.

After saying adieu to Bruce & Nancy, we walked along the waterfront and then past Harrod's Casino over to Canal Street and up it to the bus stop. It proved to be a generally boring route, but our timing was good. Just as we got on the bus, raindrops started falling, with a well-timed pause when we made the bus- to-trolley transfer for the second leg of the trip back to the hotel.

The rain having moved off, before dinner we went back up to the bar on the top floor of the hotel for another view of the city.

We had dinner at Jack Rose. Located in the Pontchartrain Hotel, the restaurant was named after a character in Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo. Tennessee Williams lived in the hotel when it was an apartment building and it may be here that he wrote A Streetcar Named Desire. 

The hotel had a framed draft of a page from the play. Then as now, the St. Charles trolley ran literally right in front of the hotel. It seemed plausible. 

There are competitors for that claim. My personal theory is that it was written in multiple places he was known to frequent.

One thing not in dispute is that Tennessee Williams remains NOLA's favorite son just like Ernest Hemingway is in Key West (and favorite ex-pat in Havana?).

We had a good meal in Jack Rose's trendy venue.  Our waitress Emily was from Philadelphia. We were at the upper end of the age range. It was fun to people-watch. I still missed Britt, Rebecca and Bella.

After dinner it was easy to pack for tomorrow's trip home. All that was required was to get everything into the bags and be sure that they did not weigh over 50 pounds.